Iowa Hawkeyes

Welcome to Week 9 of the college football season. Like the previous week, college football witnessed its share of upsets. The big upset of the week saw unranked Purdue blow out Ohio State 49-20. In a battle of top-25 teams in the Pac-12, 25th ranked Washington State handled the 12th ranked Oregon Ducks 34-20. My record last week was 4-0, which propelled my overall record to 27-9. My overall winning percentage jumped from 71.9 to 75%. This week, we will have three games where ranked teams play each other. As far as predictions, this week there will be six games featured and who knows how many upsets will happen. As always, let’s get started!

We start off with a top-10 matchup between two SEC East teams. The 9th ranked Florida Gators will battle the 7th ranked Georgia Bulldogs, which could be an elimination game. The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party could help determine who advances to the SEC Championship game. Florida and Georgia are tied with Kentucky atop of the SEC East with all three of them having one loss. Kentucky beat Florida earlier in the year, which means if Florida were to win, Kentucky would own the tiebreaker. Georgia heads to Lexington next week to battle Kentucky, which will be a huge game. As far as this game, this should be a defensive battle as both defenses are really good. It may come down to which QB or QBs that can avoid a mistake and make the big play. I’m more confident in Georgia and think they will win this one.

Georgia Win 23-19

We head to Big Ten country for a battle between two top-20 teams. The 18th ranked Iowa Hawkeyes will travel to Penn State to face the 17th ranked Nittany Lions. Iowa comes into this game in a four-way tie with Wisconsin, Purdue and Northwestern in the Big Ten West. Iowa still have to face Northwestern and Purdue, but their only loss came against Wisconsin. If the Hawkeyes are going to pick up the big win on the road, Iowa’s defense will be the key. Penn State is coming off of ending their two game losing streak after edging Indiana. Penn State is out of the playoffs and most likely can’t win their division, but they can play spoiler. I’m rolling with the Nittany Lions to win at home.

Penn State Win 27-17

We have another top-25 matchup from the Pac-12 conference. The 14th ranked Washington State Cougars will travel to Stanford to face the 24th ranked Cardinal. Washington State is coming off a huge win over the Oregon Ducks last week. This week thy must hit the road with the hopes of continuing their momentum. These two teams along with Washington are tied atop of the Pac-12 North with one loss. Can the Cougars continue there run with a win over Stanford? Stanford has faced its share of adversity all season and it begins with the injuries to Heisman hopeful Bryce Love. Once again, when it comes to teams at home, Stanford is another tough place to win. With that said, I’m rolling with the Cougars to get this one on the road.

Washington State Win 27-24

We head to ACC country, but we’re going to head to New York. The Syracuse Orange will battle the 22nd ranked N.C. State Wolfpack in a key Atlantic Division game. Syracuse has shocked some people this season especially when they blew out the Florida State Seminoles. This same Orange team almost upset the Clemson Tigers about a month ago. With a win, Syracuse can clinch a bowl berth and could possibly finish with 8 or 9 wins. N.C. State is coming off their first loss last week in a blowout defeat to Clemson 41-7. N.C. State still aspire of reaching the ACC Championship game, but they need help with Clemson losing two games. Syracuse is a tough team to beat at home and I’m thinking they’ll beat the Wolfpack.

Syracuse Win 31-21

The final game of the week will take place between two more ACC teams. The 2nd ranked Clemson Tigers will head to Tallahassee to face the Florida State Seminoles. After Clemson almost fell to Syracuse, the Tigers have dominated their last two opponents. In those games against Wake Forest and N.C. State, Clemson outscored them 104-10. Can the Tigers continue this dominance as they face an old foe from Tallahassee? Florida State should be entering this game on a 4-game winning streak, but they gave the game away to Miami a couple weeks ago. Florida State can play spoiler to at least three of their final opponents starting with Clemson. Can the Seminoles pull off the huge upset? The Seminoles offensive line isn’t good enough to compete against Clemson, so I’m riding with the Tigers.

Clemson Win 34-27

What game intrigues you the most in college football? Do you see any upsets happening this weekend? What do you think about my predictions and my top-5 below? Leave a comment below.